Calumnies
by Mine de Crayon
Summary: As Kate and Rick lead a stable life with their children, an event changes everything
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a quiet morning in the big house that Kate Beckett and Richard Castle had bought for the birth of their first child, Jonah fifteen years earlier.

Since then, they had had two more kids: Evan, whom they had adopted thirteen years earlier, and Alexandra, whom they had adopted eleven years earlier.

As every week, Alexis arrived for Sunday lunch with her fiancé, a young doctor named Scott. The family sat down to enjoy Castle's famous lasagna. Even if they had never really lived together, the writer's four children had an extremely strong bond and the whole family cherished these moments together as a family.

After lunch, the children went out for shopping together in the neighborhood while Rick stayed home to work on the script for the first Nikki Heat film. Kate, for her part, went to spend the afternoon with her father as she did once or twice a month.

The children returned home in the late afternoon and an hour later Kate returned home. As soon as he saw her, Rick noticed that a dark veil had landed on his wife's face.

Kate didn't say a word and went to start cooking dinner. Her husband wanted to take her in his arms, but she pushed him away directly.

"What's going on, baby?" "You know exactly what's going on, Castle!"

"No, I don't know what's going on! Did things go wrong with your father?"

"Look, Rick, do you think I feel good when I walk with my father and see on the front page of Pure magazine that you cheated on me."

Kate handed her husband a people's newspaper called the "Pure" on which was written "Rick Castle, everything about his adventure with model Olivia Brandon in Vegas" with a selfie of him with a young woman.

"Kate, you don't seriously think I could have done something like that?!"

"Look, there's proof. Look at this picture, it's you!"

"Seriously, Kate! We all know that this article was written only to sell newspapers about fucking lies!"

"You know very well that a thousand words are not worth much in the face of proof. I checked, on the nights she said you were together, you were on a promotional tour in Vegas. Tell me if you really slept with that girl and at least we can see then what we need to do."

"Well, I'm going to do what I have to do. I'll get my things and spend a few days in the Hamptons. We can't go on like this if we can't even trust each other."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After that argument that left Kate in a state of disarray, Kate decided to call her best friend. The coroner answered her directly:

"Are you all right, darling?"

"No, I need you to come over to the house as soon as possible. We had a fight!"

"All right don't move!", her best friend replied in a panicked voice because if it was about Rick it must have been serious. "I'll bring Jackson and Nina and some wine. I'll be there in half an hour."

Lanie arrived shortly after in the house. She decided to put the Castle children and Jackson and Nina, the two children she had with Javier Esposito, in front of a cartoon. The two women decided to move into the living room to talk. Lanie started the discussion:

"So, what happened?"

"We had an argument because he was mentioned in a celebrity magazine as having had an affair with a model and I asked him if it was true. Then he told me he was leaving because it would be pointless to continue if we didn't trust each other."

"Hold on, Kate, the man has changed for you, is the father of your three children, is totally in love with you and you are telling me that you are freaking out on him because he is in a shitty magazine. Look, tomorrow I'll talk to him and see what he thinks, but tonight we're all going to stay here, okay?"

Kate went to bed while an hour away, in his home in the Hamptons where he had settled, Richard had made a decision that would change his life for a long time.

Upon waking up, Rick decided to move quickly. He headed directly to New York. He couldn't waste any minute; he had a lot to do. First, he went to a police station. He spoke to the reception desk and asked to speak with a lieutenant. They started the discussion:

"So, why are you coming to see me, sir?"

"Here, in fact, I came to sue Pure magazine and model Olivia Brandon for defamation because they published an article in which they said that they thought I had an affair outside my marriage, which is totally false."

"Alright, Mr. Castle. Do you have the article we are talking about?"

"Of course," Castle said, handing the policeman a copy of the magazine.

"What we're going to do is I'm going to take your statement and then advise you to contact a lawyer. First, where were you around May 6, when it says your affair would have started?"

"From May 5 to 9, I was in Las Vegas for a promotional trip.""Do you know when that picture of you posing with that woman was taken?"

"No, but you know, when I'm on tour, I take dozens of selfies during signing sessions. It's my job to do that. So, I guess this picture was taken during a session."

"Well, I'll get back to you as soon as we finish a little investigation and you can have the opportunity to take it to court."

The two men left each other shaking hands and then Rick left the police station. Rick decided to go directly to Paula's house, his agent. He entered her office, greeted her and told her:

"Paula, I need you to publish a denial of the article that was published in the last Pure where they say I have an affair with a model, which is not true."

"Of course. How did Kate react?"

"Not well, as you can imagine. We decided to take a break."

"I'm sorry, what can I do to help you?"

"You have to publish this denial and in addition, you have to contact my lawyer. I just filed a defamation suit."

"Okay, be strong Rick!"

"Thank you so much, Paula!"

He left Paula's office shortly afterwards and there he received a message from Lanie asking him to meet her and the kids in the arcade to talk.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rick arrived at the arcade where he had an appointment with Lanie in the late morning. He took his children in his arms and then they all went to play together on an arcade terminal for about half an hour. Then the group split up as the two adults had decided to discuss. They sat at a table before ordering a soda and starting a discussion:

"So, how do you deal with the situation, Rick?"

"Wrong, Lanie. She's the woman of my life and now I'm losing her because she doesn't trust me anymore because of a poor article."

"Okay, listen. I can tell you I know this lady by heart. To make her trust you, you need to tell the truth about what happened to prove that what you told her was true."

"Good idea!"

"Besides, I happen to know a very good private investigator."

"Who?"

"You. Do you still have your license?"

"Of course, but I remind you, I need a client to start an investigation."

"To be honest, you know what, you and Kate are my best friends. If you need a client for your investigation, consider me your client. I'm hiring you!"

"Thank you, but where do I start?"

"From the beginning, Rick! Try to remember what you did every night when she said you slept together, where you were and who you were with."

At the end of their discussion, Lanie decided to go home with the children. When she saw her best friend again, she decided to tell her everything they had said to each other.

After hearing about this, Kate decided to run around a little bit to clear her head. She settled in a park and sat on a bench. She returned home an hour later to prepare her family's dinner. It was them she had to hold on to if she couldn't plunge her head forward into a state from which she couldn't escape.

Meanwhile, in her room, Jonah decided to call her mother's best friend and ask her what was going on between her parents. This one answered:

"Lanie, I'd like you to tell me honestly what's going on between Mom and Dad."

"Listen, sweetheart, I think your parents love each other, but they have problems of mutual trust. I don't want you to feel sad because I'm convinced everything will be fine. I also want you to help your mother, okay? We all have to help him."

"Okay, I'll do everything to make things right, auntie Lanie!"

At the same time, Rick moved into his hotel room, turned on his computer, picked up a whiteboard from Alfred, the butler, and began his investigation. He knew how to do it, he had already done it with Kate except that this time he was doing it for Kate, for their family and for their love.

He opened the magazine in front of him and began to record all the information he had at his disposal about his alleged affair: according to the article, he met on the evening of May 5, during an evening at a nightclub, had a drink together in a trendy café on May 6, where she invited him, met late in the evening in the hotel where Rick lived and slept together, which he did again on the 7th, 8th before splitting up on the 9th because Rick had to return to New York.

Rick started by checking the beginning of the story told in the magazine: their meeting in a nightclub. He first checked his account statements since if he had gone to a nightclub, he would have had to pay something. However, it turns out that during the night of May 5 to 6, Rick did not pay by credit card. Well, it didn't mean anything, he always had cash on him.

He went on with the drink he would have had together. He started by checking the schedule of his dedications and noticed directly that, during the day of May 6, there was a two-hour hole in his signing schedule. So, he decided to check with Gina and Paula to see if they were together at the time. The two women both replied that they had indeed spent that break talking and that they had only separated so that Rick could go to the bathroom.

He went on to follow the thread of the story: the fact that they would have seen each other late in the evening and slept together. He decided to contact the hotel doorman by phone. The man, a certain Geoffroy, replied directly that unless you have a room in this hotel, you cannot enter the night. He continued their investigation by checking if the model had a room in this hotel and as they hoped, it was not in this hotel.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After checking that they could not have slept together that night at the hotel, he still had to check that they had not slept together on May 7 and 8. To do this, he first checked on Rick's bank accounts where he was, then at what time his door had been opened and finally how many meals had been served in their room. It turned out that for the two nights he was supposed to have slept together, he stayed together in his room and had only one meal in the evening.

When he was finished, Rick had a glass of whiskey and went to bed. The next morning, he woke up around ten o'clock and decided directly to send a message to Kate to let her know that he had to go to their house to pick up some of his belongings. She replied shortly after a shy ok. He had to write on his computer for a while when he received a call. He answered:

"Hello, Richard Castle, who is this?"

"Mr. Castle, I'm the detective you discussed with yesterday, I came to inform you that we wanted to call you this afternoon for a confrontation with Olivia Brandon. What time are you free?"

"Uh, I'm actually here all afternoon, sir."

"At 2:00, is that all right with you?"

"Of course, that's OK for me!"

"See you later, sir."

After that call, Rick decided to head for the house. He arrived and decided to go directly to his room without going through other rooms to avoid seeing his wife, but despite all his precautions, when he tried to get out through the back door, he fell on her in the garden. He looked at her for a while before she saw him and said:

"Did you get your stuff?"

"Yeah, I had no more cloth in my hotel room. I didn't know you were here."

"So, is this how it ends? You get your stuff and it's over, 20 years together!"

"Kate, we both know it's not just this article."

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Rick had just entered a dark office where two people were already sitting, whom he identified as a policeman and Olivia Brandon. He sat down and the policeman started asking questions:

"Mrs. Brandon, do you still admit to having had relations with Mr. Castle in Las Vegas?"

"Of course, and I even have proof of that!"

"Madam, can you explain to us what this evidence is?" Asked the policeman

"Yes, of course," replied the young woman. "It so happens that when we were having sex, you didn't see that I had installed a camera right in front of the bed when you were in the bathroom."

"Ma'am," continued to ask the policeman, "do you have in your possession the videos from that night?"

"You think I'm going to reveal them during a simple confrontation?!" Screamed the woman. "I'm not stupid! These videos, you'll get them at the trial and not before, is that clear?"

"Mrs. Brandon," the policeman remarked, "you understand that since you're not showing us these videos, we might think it doesn't exist?"

"Think what you want!" continued the young model. "I'm just taking what it takes to defend myself!"

The confrontation continued for almost an hour and then Rick decided to go back to his hotel room. He settled in the house and then started waiting for his lawyer who had told him she would come by to prepare for the trial two weeks later. The woman entered at about five o'clock. The two people greeted each other and started working:

"So, how did it go, Rick?"

"Brandon says she has a video of our lovemaking"

"Did she show it to you?"

"No, she says she'll show them at the trial."

"Richard, if she says that, it's because she has nothing at all. Don't worry, we'll fix it. Besides, we're going to have to make a conference to tell the medias what is the truth."

"No problem, if it makes things better."

"Paula totally agrees. It would be nice if it could be done soon."

"When exactly ?"

"In 2 or 3 days!"

"It's late to get ready as best I can."

"You're also going to have to bring the kids and Kate."

"But I remind you, we're separated!"

"I know, but she's going to have to come and show that you're still a family united behind you."

"Well, I'll try to get her to come, but I can't promise you anything."

The lawyer left the room a little later while at home Kate was a little hesitant: the conversation she had had with Richard had upset her. She realized that her husband was not the only reason for their couple's break. Around nine o'clock, while she was cooking for her children, she received a call from her husband.

"Kate, we're going to organize a press conference to give the facts before the trial. Could you come with us?"

"Rick, you're taking me by surprise. I have no idea! I don't know at all!"

"No problem, I'm not here to be rushing you."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Two days later, the press statement was held in a large New York hotel. An hour before the announced time, Rick saw his wife and children arrive in the lobby. An hour before the announced time, Rick saw his wife and children arrive in the lobby. The two married each other in the eyes moments before Alexis decided to take her brothers and sisters to the bar to leave them alone to talk. Beckett opened the conversation:

"Rick, these last few days, I've been thinking a lot about us and I think I should apologize to you. I'm sorry, I should have trusted you."

"It's great for me that you finally believe what I'm saying. You know very well that you're the only woman on this planet I'm looking at."

"I know, my love, but you know, I'm not the one you married anymore. I changed so much in body and mind that when I saw this picture, I thought maybe you could have had desire for a younger woman."

"Kate, you're my wife and I love you deeply so yes, we are getting older but as the days go by, I love you more. Now, take my hand and let's go tell the world our truth and our love."

The writer took his wife's hand and they went into the lobby to speak to the journalists. Rick was surrounded by his children and his wife and he said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have called you to this conference today to clarify some of the facts that Ms. Brandon has accused me of. First, I would like to say that these facts are totally defamatory and that I have decided to file a complaint in order to get a clearer picture of this case. I trust the justice system to clarify any doubts. Second, I want to say that I love my wife, that I love the family we have created and that I will never do anything that could hurt either of them."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It was 8 a.m. and as usual, Stan Rosso, an employee of the waste cleaning service, began his tour in a disadvantaged neighborhood in the Bronx. After 15 minutes, he arrived in a small alley. He opened the lid of the bin and there he saw a long, heavy bag of the bin. So, he decided to open the bag and there, what he saw froze his blood. There was a body.

An hour later, detective Luis Valgo arrived in the alley. The police officer directly questioned their forensic doctor who told them:

"The victim was killed by 4 stab wounds to the lower abdomen and chest around 8:00 p. m. last night."

"Was she killed here?"

"No, his body was moved and dragged here from a car parked on the road."

"Have we been able to identify her?"

"No, we found her naked body. The only thing we have to identify her is this tattoo on her leg. According to our information, it represents the word "beauty" in Russian."

After knowing this, he returned to the station. He started by taking rookies around the city's tattoo parlors to see if they recognized the victim. An hour later, while the policeman was having coffee, he received a call:

"Lieutenant Valgo, this is sergeant Mitchell. I'm with a tattoo artist who says he tattooed the victim. It turns out she paid for it with her credit card."

"Did you manage to get an identity for the victim?"

"The victim's name is Olivia Julian, but she became known as a model as Olivia Brandon."

A few minutes later, the medical examiner called him and told him that he had found the murder weapon on which they had found fingerprints. Meanwhile, Rick was writing in his office when he heard the doorbell ringing. He opened the door and a policeman told him coldly:

"Richard Castle, you're under arrest for the murder of Olivia Julian. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

As soon as she heard that Castle had been arrested, Kate and her husband's lawyer rushed to the station to pick up the writer. The lawyer went to the interrogation room where Rick was being questioned by Valgo. She introduced herself:

"I am Mr. Castle's lawyer and from now on, this interrogation will be done in my presence! Where are you at?"

"We were just getting started!" Said Valgo. "I just asked your client if he had ever met Miss Julian."

"I hadn't met Miss Brandon before the confrontation following my libel suit."

"Fine!" Continued Valgo "Then how do you explain the fact that Miss Brandon said she filmed the night you spent together in Las Vegas?"

"Detective," interrupted the lawyer, "my client won't answer your question because Olivia Brandon didn't want to show this video and, as far as I know, this video you're talking about hasn't been found, right?"

"No, it hasn't been found!" Answered the policeman. "Mr. Castle, do you recognize this knife?"

The policeman handed Rick the sealed bag containing the knife used to kill Olivia.

"It doesn't seem familiar to me! Why ?"

Mr. Castle, it was that knife that murdered Olivia Julian. And your fingerprints were found on it!"

"I repeat that Mr. Castle had nothing to do with Miss Julian's tragic murder," said the lawyer, "so if you found his fingerprints there, it must be a mistake."

"Then", asked Valgo, "if Mr. Castle wasn't killing Miss Brandon, where was he?"

"Look," Castle defended himself, "normally around 8:00 p. m. I'm at home in my office or with my wife."

"Do you have any witnesses?" Asked Valgo

"I don't know, but I know I was at home like every night."

"So I guess," said the policeman to the writer to try to destabilize him, "you have no way of proving your alibi."

The interrogation concludes with the fact that the police officer did not believe the author's version. So they decided to keep Rick in custody.

So Kate decided to be with her children. They had taken food from the Chinese because, in addition, she had learned from the nanny that she had been fired by Alexis, who had come to support her brothers and sisters. When she entered the living room, she saw directly that her three children were eating with their sister. When she approached them, Alexis began to ask her:

"So? Did you manage to get him out?"

"No, they don't believe in his alibi so they say he has to prove that he was here at the time of the crime."

"You know what, I have an idea to prove his alibi. If Dad was here, then he was necessarily on his computer so he either modified a document on his Word Processing, or he consulted a web site. All you have to do is check the history of Internet connections and the history of changes in his future novels."

So they both went to check Rick's computer and as they had expected, around 10 p.m. a chapter of Rick's new novel had been modified. Unfortunately, it still had to be proven that it was Rick who wrote this. To do this, Alexis decided to call Jake, her English tutor when she was in high school, who had since become a doctor of literary style. He answered:

"Hello, Dr. Jake Carter, who is calling?"

"Good evening, I'm sorry to bother you. It's Alexis Castle. I would need your help to demonstrate that a text was written by my father. Do you have some time?"

"I'll always have time for you, miss Castle. Furthermore, I heard what happened to your father and I feel sorry for you. Send me the texts you want me to compare and I will give you the results as soon as I can."

After sending a sample of Rick's text and the text written during the time of Olivia Brandon's death, Alexis came back at her home and Kate went to bed after asking her children to do the same. The next morning, when Kate noticed that Rick had not returned during the night, she had a hope that vanished. She picked up her phone and saw that she had two missed calls: one from the lawyer and the other from Alexis. She decided that she would answer it after breakfast. So she went into the kitchen and since none of her children were awake, she decided to run a little bit to clear her head. She ran for about an hour and then came home and decided to call the lawyer:

"It's Kate. I saw that you called me. Anything new?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure you'd want to hear it on the phone. Kate, they transferred him to Rikers Island for pre-trial detention last night. I know, you're tired, but in two days there's a hearing to see if they're keeping him in jail or not."

"Can you see if we can get a visit with him?"

"I'll check it out. In the meantime, know that I managed to put him in a cell with another of my clients who owes me a favor and who will have everything protected for your husband."

"Thank you for everything you do for us."

"I'll call you if I hear anything, but you know, I'm doing my job."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Judge Hamilton sat on his chair in the room where the hearing was to take place to determine whether writer Richard Castle would be able to get out of prison. The accused was brought into the room and all the journalists in the room were heartbroken when they saw what had become of him: he had a beard that made him look neglected and instead of his traditional costumes, he had the orange uniform of the prisoners. The judge had the author escorted by police officers to the stand. He asked him:

"Accused, state your identity (surname, first name, place and date of birth, place of residence and marital status)."

"My name is Richard Edgar Alexandre Rodgers Castle, I was born on March 27, 1971 in New York, I live on Staten Island and I am married to Katherine Houghton Beckett."

"Mr. Castle, we're here to determine whether or not you're going to be released in the Olivia Brandon murder case. Do you confirm that you wish to be released at the end of this hearing?"

"I do."

"So, first, we're going to talk about what happened before Miss Brandon died. So, what was your relationship with the victim?"

"I didn't have any relationship with her"

"However, on the cover of the magazine "Pure", you appear in the company of the victim. So, you two have met before?"

"You know, when I'm on a promotional party like I was at the time, I see hundreds of fans every day so if she came to a signing session, I don't remember it at all."

"I'll leave the floor to the prosecution's lawyer, John Mayer, to ask you some questions. Your turn, sir."

"Thank you, Your Honor. Mr. Castle, from my information, it seems to me that you have always lived in an environment that is predominantly female. Is that correct?"

"Yes, it is!"

"It also seems to me that you have been married three times and moreover, according to many people's magazines, you have had many short affairs with pretty women. Is that true?"

"Yes, but you know, it's a thing that belongs to my past. I am now a married man, a family man and totally fulfilled by this."

"I'm done for now", concluded the prosecutor.

"I now give the floor to the defense attorney." Said the judge.

"Mr. Castle, during a promotional tour, how many signing sessions per day do you do when you settle in a city like Las Vegas?"

"4 to 6 which last on average about 1 hour each."

"During these signing sessions, how many autographs do you sign?"

"I don't know, it really depends. I would say it ranges from 75 to 150."

"How many days do you stay in a city like Las Vegas?"

"I'd say... about a week each time."

"Your Honor, then, during a promotional tour such as the one we're talking about in Las Vegas, we can say that about 2500 autographs are signed by Mr. Castle. Moreover, the photo is not dated, which means that it could have been taken at any time. So, the photo you are talking about is only totally insignificant and cannot seriously be considered as evidence of a supposed relationship between Mr. Castle and Miss Julian. I'm done with my questions."

The prosecution's lawyer decided to call Fred Luis, the journalist who had collected Olivia Brandon's statements, to the stand. The young man in his thirties took the stand and explained that he had received a call from a woman at the newspaper who had told him she had information about a married media figure. So, he asked her to meet him in a bar a few days later. The writer's lawyer decided to ask a few questions:

"Sir, how many calls giving you information are you receiving every day?"

"A certain number."

"Do you give an appointment to anyone who tells you they have information?"

"I have no idea. I just had that strong that there was something to investigate about this information."

As soon as this interrogation was over, the journalist quickly left the room. Indeed, he did not want to see the trial of a man accused of what he had done.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

That evening, when Fred Luis arrived home, he sat in his chair and decided to open a beer to relax. Afterwards, he decided to clean up his apartment and evacuate the incriminating objects. He took a garbage can and went straight to his room to throw away the pictures of his romantic weekends with Olivia Brandon.

He had met her during a night at the night club. Soon after, they fell in love with each other's ambitions. At a romantic dinner in a fancy New York restaurant, they had been sitting next to the table where Richard Castle was having lunch with his wife. They had a flash and decided to stage an alleged affair with the writer.

They went to Vegas where they knew that the author was having a promotional tour. Olivia had arranged to have her picture taken with him. They then published this photo to illustrate the article the journalist had written.

Things would have been very good if only she hadn't decided to say during the confrontation that she had pictures of their night of love. When she told him this, shortly afterwards, he got angry and left the apartment at around eight o'clock to go see Johnson, a young waiter who specialized in collecting objects belonging to celebrities.

On the website listing everything he had collected, he had already seen that the young man had a long knife that he had recovered from a man who had given the writer a cooking lesson.

He picked up the knife and went home. He went into the kitchen, put on a pair of gloves and then went to join his partner in the living room where he stabbed her multiple times. He then moved the body from his work vehicle and hoisted it into a garbage can.

He had learned that day from one of his friends that Rick Castle had been charged because at the scene of a murder, there was found a knife used to kill with his fingerprints that looked strangely similar to the one he had sold to the journalist less than four hours before the murder.

After some time of reflection, he went to the nearest police station. He went to the reception desk and said:

"Hi, I'd like to make a statement."

"To take your statement, I'm going to need your name," the police officer asked.

"My name is Lewis Mark John. So, I saw that Mr. Castle had been put in jail because of a knife with his fingerprints on it, except that I came to declare that one of the persons I knew, Fred Luis, had bought me a knife with Mr. Castle's fingerprints on it."

"Hold on, Fred Luis? The journalist from Pure magazine?"

"Yes, that's him. We know each other because he often comes to the bar where I work"

"Look, sir, I actually happen to be very familiar with this case since I was the one who took Mr. Castle's first statement. So I will run to court because, as you know, a hearing is underway to determine if Richard Castle will stay in jail."

That night, Richard was lying in his court cell. He was thoughtful, thinking about the continuation of his trial that was going to take place the next day. At one point, while he was still in his daydream, he saw a policeman arrive in his cell. The latter opened the door before asking him to leave. He guided him to a room where an officer gave him a bag. The policeman told him: "Sir, in this bag, there's your personal belongings. Please sign this paper indicating that they have been returned to you."

Richard really didn't understand anything. He packed his things and they took him in a car. After almost an hour's drive, he was dropped off in front of his house. There, he was given a letter on which he read "Richard Edgar Castle, you are informed by this letter that, after the discovery of innocent evidence, you are definitively released". After reading this, he got out of the car and rushed home. He walked very slowly towards his wife's room. He approached his bed and whispered gently in his ear "Kate". She immediately woke up and screamed:

"Rick? What are you doing here? Did you escape?"

"No, my love. I was released because they apparently found evidence that exonerated me completely. I'm fine here and I don't plan to leave anytime soon."

The man, full of happiness and love for the great love of his life, took her tenderly in his arms before kissing her. The couple went to wake their children to tell them that the long-awaited father had returned. The relief was total, they were finally going to be able to recover and relive normally.


	10. Chapter 10 : Epilog

Chapter 10

Epilog

That night was great for the Castle family. They had all been to a fancy New York restaurant for dinner and at the end of the meal, Rick and Kate asked Alexis to take her brothers and sisters home so they could walk together as two lovers. They were walking silently and arm-in-arm above when Rick finally decided to break that silence:

"You know, it's on nights like this that I practically wish I'd never proposed to you before."

"What do you mean?" asked Kate between amazement and smile

"Between you and me", replied the writer, looking at his wife with all the love he had for the beautiful woman who shared his life, "the only way to make this evening even more awesome would be to ask you to marry me."

"My love", said Kate, handing her husband the ring she wore on her ring finger, "it is never impossible for you to do it again."

"All right let's go. Kate Houghton Beckett Castle, you are such a star in the sky of my dreams. You are my part of the light and I will never get tired of trying to take you into my world of magic. You're the one who made my life a thousand times more beautiful. You showed me what life can be like when we share it together. My love, it is with you that I want to share my life. Kate, will you marry me?"

"My love, I could never have imagined that after so many years together, you could surprise me so much. So, yes, Rick, I want to marry you."

"We managed to have a nice family life together: we have great kids, a nice house and better yet, I can say that I love you even more than I did on the first day."

After saying that, Kate removed from her man's finger the ring he was also wearing on his ring finger and after kneeling, she made her own marriage proposal:

"Richard, as opposed to you, I never had a chance to ask you to marry me, so today is the time for me. Before I met you, I was focused on the past. I saw my childhood, the family, the marriage of my parents as the horizon I would never reach and the happiness I would never experience. I was wrong, you and our children are my horizon, my happiness. What I didn't know was that the day we met, I encountered my future. If I had been told that at that evening I was going to meet the only man I ever loved, I wouldn't have believed it. With you, I feel like Christmas Eve when you expect gifts without knowing what to expect. I want this to last forever, so Richard Edgar Alexander Rodgers Castle, will you marry me?"

"Of course! Of course!"

Kate put her hands on her man's cheeks before kissing him. For them, this kiss represented their commitment to stay together for the rest of their lives. They loved each other deeply and nothing could break what they had.

A month later, the journalist was sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of remission.


End file.
